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North Augusta splash pad contractor sues city

The contractor who built North Augusta’s first splash pad last April is suing the city for lost business.

Tony Ammar completed the splash pad at Summerfield Park on Old Edgefield Road in April, but an investigation by The Augusta Chronicle revealed the $135,000 structure remained dry because of permitting issues with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. It eventually opened to the public at the end of August.

Ammar blamed the city for not securing the permits; North Augusta pinned the permitting problem on Ammar.

Now Ammar is seeking $2,500, plus an $80 filing fee, for “regrading the site, including removing and resetting a section of the retaining wall.” Ammar has said in past interviews that his equipment sat idle in February while the city changed its plans and added a short wall around the concrete pad.

The complaint filed in North Augusta Magistrate Court names North Augusta and Bob Brooks, past director of parks and recreation, as plaintiffs.